By Denise Ross

Not now, of course, but someday - maybe. So says Time in its current Hotshots: Democrats to Watch piece which names South Dakota’s lone congresswoman as one of five rising star Dems.

Though moderate in her politics and reserved in person, she can roar on the stump. Her fiery speeches have made her popular at party events across the West and led to speculation that she might one day run for President.

Time credits Stephanie Herseth Sandlin’s political heritage - a gov grandpa, secretary of state grandma and longtime state lawmaker dad - along with a bit of mentoring from Tom Daschle for her success so far.

SHS is joined on the list by Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania, Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Artur Davis of Alabama - all fellow House members - plus San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

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By Denise Ross

Before the US Senate’s Gang of 10, there was another bipartisan energy compromise in the US House - not that you’d know it by the GOP-led histrionics going on there now - but there was.

It is H.R. 6709, also known as the National Conservation, Environment and Energy Independence Act. And it would lift the ban on offshore drilling in the US, which is what the current fuss on the Hill is all about. H. R. 6709 also would do a whole lot of other things.

H.R. 6709 is similar in spirit to a proposal released late Friday by the Senate’s Gang of 10, which includes SD’s own John Thune. The group behind the House measure is 119 strong - more than the whole Senate (just sayin’) - and SD’s own Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin is one of the original cosponsors of the bill. (Read her full press release on the jump.)

“When it comes to bringing down prices at the pump and enhancing our energy security, Americans deserve more from their leaders than partisan fighting and political stunts,” Rep. Herseth Sandlin said. “I’m optimistic that when my colleagues return after spending time talking to constituents in their district about the need for less talk and more action from Washington, they will be eager to move this package forward.”

Here’s a brief list of some of what’s in the House bill, which appears to allow more off-shore drilling than the Senate’s bill would but does not offer a plan to transition the nation’s auto fleet away from gasoline.

• Would count woody biomass derived from federal lands towards the Renewable Fuels Standard. (SHS has been steamed about this exclusion ever since Congress passed an energy bill.)
• Would mandate the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
• Would dedicate funding to the development of alternative fuels, renewable energy and environmental restoration by allocating the estimated $2.6 trillion in oil royalties from oil and gas production derived from offshore drilling. (See the jump for a breakdown of who would get the money.)
• Would repeal prohibitions preventing federal agencies from entering into contracts for procurement of an alternative or synthetic fuel. (If you’re like me, you ask, There’s a prohibition on the feds contracting for alternative fuel? Who says the oil companies have too much influence? Read the official memo on H.R. 6709 from the bill’s chief Republican sponsor, John Peterson of Pennsylvania.)

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By Denise Ross

Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., held a House subcommittee field hearing in Rapid City Monday. (I’m bringing up the rear on coverage, but I promise I have stuff you haven’t read elsewhere.)

(Photos by Denise)

Here was the scene. There’s Herseth Sandlin with the microphone. To her left is Rep. John Boozman (pronounced like the Montana city of Bozeman), R-Ark. On either side of the two congressionals are their lawyers. Seriously.

I post this photo simply to show that the Dems’ counsel also doubled as re-inforcement for the Cobbler banner, which kept falling down. This provided some amusement for spectators. I also was amused at the small Congressional seal that hung over the Cobbler banner. The stagecraft wasn’t the strongest. Whaddya gonna do?

So you probably read in Kevin Woster’s story that SHS blasted the DoD for blowing the hearing off. (That does seem pretty cavalier, no? )

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By Denise Ross

Amid all the warm-hearted and joyful congratulations to South Dakota’s congresswoman on her little Dem in the oven, my former blog-mate Kevin Woster makes note that the baby factor has been part of speculation about Stephanie Herseth Sandlin’s future political plans.

I’ve framed it this way in past conversations: If she wants to raise small children, that would be a heck of a lot easier as a chief executive and all the accompanying accoutrements than it would schlepping to a House office building each day and receptions/fundraisers/dinners most evenings. Not to mention the frequent flights back and forth from DC to SD.

Here’s how Woster frames it:

The annoucement today that Herseth Sandlin and her husband, Max, are expecting a child in December could carry a second bit of happy news - for Democrats longing for their first South Dakota governor since 1978, at least.

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By Denise Ross

The second-quarter campaign finance reports have a few goodies in them. Here’s one that really shouldn’t wait. Oh, the sweet irony of it all.

Former chief of staff to Republican Gov. Mike Rounds, Rob Skjonsberg, has donated $850 to the campaign of Democratic incumbent Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.

Click here to see the FEC report. (Names aren’t listed in alphabetical order. Scroll down about a third of the way to find this entry.)

South Dakota’s chattering class will recall the kerfuffle caused when Rounds replaced Skjonsberg with Neal Fulton, who had been known to consort with the Herseth Sandlin campaign - most notably as treasurer. The partisan equivalent of high treason.

Also recall the near open warfare that erupted between Rounds and Skjonsberg when Rounds insisted that the state impose a new (read “higher”) tax framework on higher blend ethanol pumps. Skjonsberg had gone on to the employ of an ethanol giant, and he did not appreciate his former boss’s efforts.

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